(UPDATED BELOW)
I seriously had my doubts at first when I saw this story on Twitter. But it turns out that he lawyer for Kim Davis confirms that this secret meeting between Davis and the Pope really did happen. Amazing!
NBC NEWS – Attorneys for Kentucky official Kim Davis claimed Tuesday that she had a secret meeting with Pope Francis during his historic trip to America — and he supposedly told the defiant county clerk to “stay strong.”
The clandestine communication occurred in Washington, D.C., on Thursday on the same day of the pontiff’s historic speech to a joint session of Congress, according to Liberty Counsel, which has represented Davis in her legal battles.
In a statement released by Liberty Counsel, Davis says she was “humbled” and never thought she would be invited to meet the popular and unpredictable pontiff. The conservative nonprofit said Davis and her husband, Joe, shared face time with Francis at the Vatican Embassy in D.C.
“Who am I to have this rare opportunity? I am just a county clerk who loves Jesus and desires with all my heart to serve him,” Davis said in the statement. “Pope Francis was kind, genuinely caring, and very personable. He even asked me to pray for him. Pope Francis thanked me for my courage and told me to ‘stay strong.'”
Here’s another account from Inside the Vatican:
On Thursday, September 24, in the afternoon after his historic address to Congress, just a few minutes before flying to New York City, Pope Francis received, spoke with, and embraced Kim Davis — the Kentucky County Clerk who was jailed in early September for refusing to sign the marriage licenses of homosexual couples who wished to have their civil marriages certified by the state of Kentucky.
Also present was Kim’s husband, Joe Davis.
Kim and her husband had come to Washington for another purpose — Kim was to receive a “Cost of Discipleship” award on Friday, September 25, from The Family Research Council at the Omni Shoreham Hotel.
…
Kim Davis gave me this account of the meeting shortly after it took place.
“The Pope spoke in English,” she told me. “There was no interpreter. ‘Thank you for your courage,’ Pope Francis said to me. I said, ‘Thank you, Holy Father.’ I had asked a monsignor earlier what was the proper way to greet the Pope, and whether it would be appropriate for me to embrace him, and I had been told it would be okay to hug him. So I hugged him, and he hugged me back. It was an extraordinary moment. ‘Stay strong,’ he said to me. Then he gave me a rosary as a gift, and he gave one also to my husband, Joe. I broke into tears. I was deeply moved.
“Then he said to me, ‘Please pray for me.’ And I said to him, ‘Please pray for me also, Holy Father.’ And he assured me that he would pray for me.”
Joe told Kim that he would give his rosary to her mother, who is a Catholic. And Kim then said that she would give her rosary to her father, who is also a Catholic.
Vatican sources have confirmed to me that this meeting did occur; the occurrence of this meeting is not in doubt.
I gotta say I’m kinda impressed that the Pope met with Davis. I’m sure the left will absolutely hate it, but I think it definitely puts the Pope squarely on the right side of this issue, no pun intended.
UPDATE: Vatican spokesman official confirms the meeting via the NY Times:
On Wednesday, the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, confirmed the meeting, but he declined to elaborate. “I do not deny that the meeting took place, but I have no other comments to add,” he said.